THE REDEEMER OF GOD’S ELECT

 

THE REDEEMER OF GOD’S ELECT 

Westminster Shorter Catechism 21

Quest. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?

Ans. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and Man in two distinct natures, and one Person, for ever.

Introduction

Under inspiration of the 3^rd Person in the Trinity Paul the Apostle wrote, “For there is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).

In the following we’re going to study this Man Christ Jesus – this Man who gave Himself as ransom for both Jew and Gentile, indeed for every kind of people. This Man Christ Jesus, as you know, paid a substitute ransom, which is to say that He “redeemed” i.e., “bought-back”, every kind of people of every station in life.

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To give you something of a picture of redemption, think of a Pawn Shop. A man can walk into a Pawn Shop and “redeem” or “buy-back” his pawned watch or guitar or whatever. All that is required is that he fulfils the requirements, which is to say that he must pay the price asked. In order to redeem us the Man Christ Jesus was required to pay with His own perfect sinless life – which life He laid down when He died on Calvary’s cross.

So, if we were to ask: From what did the Man Christ Jesus redeem us? We would answer that He has redeemed us from death, which is the wages of sin. Like a fireman rushing in to rescue people from a flaming building, so the Man Christ Jesus entered into the burning Pawn Shop of death to rescue us. The price He paid was His perfect sacrificial life. As it’s put by Paul to the Ephesians, “In Him we have redemption through His blood” (Eph. 1:7). And here’s a verse from the Old Testament just to show that this redemption was also the hope of the Old Testament saints, “But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for He shall receive me” (Psa. 49:17).

To be redeemed or “bought back” from the power of the grave is to be set free from all categories of death, i.e., spiritual, physical, and everlasting death. Therefore, the Man Christ Jesus is the Redeemer of His people past, present, and future from the grave or death. He did this by entering into the grave or death on our behalf and thus, by His death, paid the price demanded by God for our release from death and the grave.

Two Distinct Natures

The Redeemer is God and Man at the same time. He redeemed us while in the flesh, i.e., as a Man. And, because He is a divine Person (i.e., is also God), His work as a Man has infinite value. And, continuing forever as the Godman, He intercedes on our behalf everlastingly. “But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:24-25).

Let us, for a moment, focus our attention upon His Manhood. What is man? Though there are many aspects to man (such as mind, emotions, will etc.), the nature of fallen and unfallen humanity may be found in the following words of the Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians, “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). If soul and spirit are synonyms then why does the Apostle make these three distinctions? We believe, therefore, that man, like the God who made him, is a triunity. Man is spirit, soul, and body – and will be preserved as such, will be resurrected as such, and will stand before the coming Christ as such on Judgment Day.  

When the Christian undergoes physical death, Scripture says his spirit returns to God (Eccl. 12:7) and his soul goes immediately to be with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:6 with Rev. 6:9) where he awaits the redemption of his body (Rom. 8:23) at the resurrection on the last day (1 Cor. 15:52). Thus, though we are able to distinguish three sides to the individual man (spirit, soul, body), the whole man is one. Therefore, human nature reflects God’s nature – the great Three in One.

It is through what Scripture reveals about man at death that we learn a great deal about the make-up or triune nature of man. Says Francis Nigel Lee,

 

To say also man is triune is not suggesting either unitarianism or tritheism. Man is as radically one as is his Creator, and also as radically diverse (triune). Man has only one (human) nature, which has three interlocking and mutually-interactive sides.[1]

 

Let me just mention a couple of verses which speak of the various sides of man. Jesus says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell [lit. Gehenna]” (Matt. 10:28). In this verse we see that man can undergo physical death, i.e., the death of the body, and that his soul can undergo everlasting destruction (which is not the same as annihilation) in the fire, i.e., Gehenna, or the fires of Hell. James speaks of man’s spirit as that which animates us where he says, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2:26).

We see then that, a) Men are able to kill a man’s body. b) When a man’s body is killed his spirit has departed from it. And c) Though men cannot destroy it, when his body is dead and his spirit has departed, the man’s soul can be destroyed by God in Hell. Thus, as just illustrated, it is not hard to see that the “three interlocking and mutually-interactive sides of man” may be distinguished from each other.

However, you wouldn’t say that each individual man is three persons, viz., a soul person, a spirit person, and a body person. Individually, man is one person with “three distinct mutually-interactive but interlocking sides.” But unlike lead, tin, and antimony, which can be mixed to form solder, our spirit and soul and body do not mix to form a compound or alloy. And neither should we try to mix them, for that would be to confuse the radical oneness of human nature with our radical diversity or triunity.

Materialists (such as contemporary Darwinian Evolutionists) deny the spirit and soul sides of man by presupposing that man is no more than flesh and bone, i.e., no more than a body. Hence the Materialist also presupposes that man completely ceases to exist at the point of physical death. But there is no verifiable proof, empirical, scientific or otherwise, that this presupposition or belief is correct. In the face of this unbelief Scripture says, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes downward to the earth?” (Eccl. 3:21). Materialists may deny the spirit of man and of beast, but the God who made all things, and can destroy our souls in Hell, does not deny our spirit.

Having noted that though man has three interlocking and mutually-interactive sides, he has only one nature, i.e., a human nature. We have also noted that the whole person of man (i.e., body, soul, and spirit) is the image of the Triune God (Gen. 1:27; 5:1; 9:6; James 3:9). Scripture says that the Son, i.e., Christ is the (express) image of God (Heb. 1:3; 2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:19). Thus, as to the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Son is the perfect image of the Father. However, that the image of God refers also to Christ’s humanity and not just His divinity or deity is demonstrated where Jesus says, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

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Though, like oil and water, the human and divine natures of Christ must ever remain distinct, Christ Jesus is not two persons. He has two distinct natures in one divine Person forever. When the Word became flesh, the eternal and divine Person (who is the 2^nd Person in the Trinity) took to Himself a human nature, i.e., a whole spirit, soul, and body. Christ’s humanity remains distinct from His Divine nature. Therefore, the eternal Son of God, the 2^nd Person in the Trinity, became also a Man, or as John puts it, “The Word became flesh.”

That He is God can be seen by the fact that John says, “And the Word was God … All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1, 3). Yet John says of this same Divine Person, “Jesus, being wearied from His journey” (John 4:6). And then in John 11:35 we read that “Jesus wept.” And in John 12:27 we read of Jesus speaking of His own soul, for He says there, “My soul is troubled.” And then it says of Him in John 19:30 that He “gave up His spirit,” (i.e., when His body died.)

A man gets weary, weeps, has a troubled soul, and gives up his spirit when he dies. But God never grows weary. One reason is because God doesn’t have a human body. He never weeps because He doesn’t have human tear ducts. He never has a troubled soul because He is not a man. Nor does He ever give up His Spirit because He never dies.

To be sure the Old Testament at times speaks of God anthropomorphically, (i.e., as if He has eyes, a heart and a soul and so forth). But this is simply figurative language, because the Son of God didn’t become fully and truly Man until Christ’s incarnation. Only Jesus, the only Redeemer of God’s elect, has the nature of God and the nature of Man (apart from man’s sin of course). But like you and me, we never say that Jesus is two persons. Rather we say along with our Catechism that He is one Person forever. 

One Person Forever

Now, when we speak of the Trinity, we say, three Persons, one God. When we speak of Christ, we say, two natures, one Person. It would be very wrong to say that because He is God and Man, Jesus is two persons. For unlike the Triune God, nowhere in Scripture is Christ addressed as more than one Person.

The Bible speaks of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as three distinct Persons. And each one of the three is addressed as “He” or “Him”. E.g., of the Son, we should be, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us.” (Titus 2:13-14). And of the Father and the Spirit, where Jesus says, “And I will pray the Father, and He [i.e., the Father] will give you another Helper, that He [i.e., the Helper, the Holy Spirit] may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).

The three Persons of the Godhead, Father and Son and Holy Spirit are distinct but not separate. They are as the Westminster Shorter Catechism 5 says, “The same in substance, equal in power and glory.” However, you would never say that the two distinct natures of Christ are the same in substance, equal in power and glory. As the Godman, Christ is a union of God (who is a Spirit) and a man who is flesh. As Man His power is not equal to that of God, for the Man Christ Jesus is not Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent. Only as God is Jesus all-powerful, all knowing, and in all places at once.

Now, this is where some people have gotten into difficulties through the centuries. They either end up with a Christ who is two persons or (just as bad) start to ascribe divine attributes to Christ’s humanity or human attributes to His divinity. In other words, they mix and confuse the two natures of Christ. Can God be everywhere at once? Of course He can. He’s Omnipresent. But can a man be everywhere at once? Of course not, because a man occupies only the space his body takes up.

To put it another way, a man cannot extend his physical body outside of his physical body. To be sure, I could cut off ten fingers and mail them to ten different countries. But that’s not exactly what we mean by being in two (or more) places at once in our physical body. However, there are people who believe that Christ Jesus’ physical body can be everywhere at once, especially since His resurrection!

Roman Catholicism with her doctrine of Transubstantiation and the Lutheran doctrine of Consubstantiation testify to this erroneous idea. If the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper become, or contain, Christ’s physical body, then this would prove these two doctrines, wouldn’t it? However, the physical properties of the bread and wine remain unchanged.

The truth of the matter is that the physical body of our Redeemer did not and does not take on Divine qualities. For that is to confuse the two natures of Christ. Christ Jesus has two distinct natures in one Person for ever – as our Catechism says. After His resurrection Jesus said to His disciples, “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). Therefore after His resurrection Jesus remained fully human, i.e., He was not like a spirit who does not have a body and a soul. Like all human beings, Jesus’ body is solid flesh and bone. But His body saw no corruption in the grave. Therefore, the body-matter did not dissolve to leave only His soul and His spirit as, for instance, the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses allege.  Consider again what Jesus says after His resurrection, “Behold My hands and My feet … Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” Therefore, our Catechism is correct in saying that the Lord Jesus Christ, even after His resurrection, continues to be God and Man in two distinct natures, and one Person, FOR EVER.

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“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Heb. 13:8). Do you know what the beginning of the verse immediately following that says? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.” So you need to be very, very careful to keep the two natures of Christ Jesus distinct in your theology. I believe that those who allege that the resurrected Christ walked through solid wooden doors and walls are mixing and confusing His two natures.

Now, I did mention that there are some who ascribe human qualities to Christ’s divinity. This is an old heresy known as Kenoticism. In broad terms Kenoticism has to do with the 2^nd Person of the Trinity, the Logos, self-emptying. It has to do with the Son of God, as mis-alleged, leaving His Divinity or Godhood behind in heaven to become a Man.

This teaching comes in various shades of grey. But again, it is to mix and confuse, to lose the distinction between the two natures of Christ. It is to go too far in the distinction to the point of separating His two natures. At worst it is to say that the Son of God for a time stopped being the Son of God, which is to say that for a time there were only two Persons in the Trinity! To strictly ascribe human attributes to the divinity of Christ is to empty Him of His Divinity.

Kenosis means emptying, self-emptying. The favourite text for promoting this heresy is Philippians 2:7 which says of Christ that, “[He] made Himself of no reputation.” The words “made Himself” can also be translated “emptied Himself”. Calvin says of this verse,

 

This emptying is the same as abasement … being brought to nothing. Christ, indeed, could not divest Himself of Godhead; but He kept it concealed for a time, that it might not be seen, under the weakness of the flesh. Hence He laid aside His glory in the view of men, not by lessening it, but by concealing it.

Conclusion

I hope that what we’ve looked at will be some help to you in telling your friends about your Redeemer. I don’t have to tell you that we live in an age in which many care little about Biblical doctrine. We live in a time when many are quite happy to present an inaccurate view of Jesus. But I put it to you that any view of Jesus that is inaccurate is a deformed view of Jesus. And, if you have a deformed view of Jesus then your view of the Gospel will also be deformed. Why? Because the Person and nature, or should I say, the two natures of Christ is crucial to our understanding of the Gospel. It is after all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are proclaiming – Yes? Therefore, to portray a Jesus who is too much of this and not enough of that is to warp the very message by which we are saved. E.g., the Mormons will tell you about a Jesus who is not the Jesus of the Bible. So will the so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses – and so will the Muslims for that matter. To be sure, their Jesus is vastly different to the Jesus of the Bible. But surely this should be a prompt to us to know intimately the real Jesus, i.e., the Jesus revealed in the pages of Scripture – the Godman. Watch out then, for any view of Jesus that either tends to mix and confuse His two natures or, at any point or at any time, denies either of His two natures.

We’ve asked the question: Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect? To which WSC 21 answers: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and Man in two distinct natures, and one Person, for ever.

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[1] The late Francis Nigel Lee in private email to me.